Pocket-billiard-table gully-box.



F. c. HOBBS.

POCKET BILLIARD TABLE GULLY BOX.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I3 I9I5.

1 174,1 52. Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

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F. C. HOBBS. POCKET BILLIARD TABLE GULLY BOX.

APPLICATION FILED MAY13|19|5 Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 /a MQ/MJ ITE@ STAFF@ FATENT FFIQE. y

FRANK C. HOBBSVOF MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE BRUNSWICK-BALKE- COLLENDER COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE.

rocxET-BILmAan-rastn GULLY-Box.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led May 13, 1915. Serial No. 27,834.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK C. Hos, a citizen of the United States, residing at Muskegon, in the county of Muskegon and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pocket-Billiard- Table Gully-Boxes, of which the following is a specication. y

This invention relates to improvements in gully boxes for pocket billiard tables and its object is to provide a box of strong and substantial construction and neat and attractive appearance to receive the balls from a gully such as that disclosed in my companion application Serial No. 27,833, led May 13, 1915.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gully box of openwork or skeleton metal construction which will not collect or hold dirt or other foreign matter and from which dust may be easily removed by brushing or wiping with a cloth.

A further object of the invention is to provide means of simple construction and easily operated for discharging the balls from the box as desired. And a still further object of the invention is to operate Vthe discharging means by a push buttonwhich is arranged in the yrail at one end of the table in such a way that it can be removed with' the rail from the table without disconnecting any of the'parts or disassembling'any of the parts of the discharging means.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out hereinafter in the detail description of the p accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an end elevation of a pocket billiard table, showing my improved gully box in position thereon; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the gully box disconnected from the table and partly in section; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the box; Fig. 4: is a sectional elevation of the end ofthe table showing the discharging mechanism; Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view showingin dotted lines the ball in position within the gully box and also showing in dotted lines the ball in discharging position from the gully box; Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view showing the manner of connecting the bars with the channel bands. j

While my invention is especially adapted for use in connection with the gully disclosed in my companion application above referred to and parts of which are shown 1n Fig. 4 and elsewhere yin the drawings, it will be understood at the outset that the present invention is not limited to use with jthat particular form of gully disclosed in ever, shown the invention adapted for use y with my improved gully aforesaid, which comprises the bottom track bars 8, 8', side guide bars 9, 9 and top rails 10, 10, Fig. 2.

The gully box is oblong'in general shape and is connected with the discharge end of the gully at or about the middle of one side ofthe box (Fig. 2). The top rail 11 of the box starts at one side of the ball entrance to the box and extends entirely around the box to the other side and the ends of this rail are arranged toV abut against or be connected with the ends of the top rails l0, 10 of the gully. ,The bottom track bar112 of the gully box forms, in effect, a continuation of the side guide bar 9 of the gully and this bottom track bar curves downwardly at r12 from the elevated position of the end of the .guide track bar 9 to the bottom of the box,

this decline extending substantially to the left-hand end of the box Vfrom which point the bottom bar extends across to the shelf 13 at the other end of the box. The side 'track bar 14 of the box forms substantially a continuation of the bottom track bar 8 of the gully andthis side track bar curves upward at 14 from the bottom of the box to a posiktion between the bottom track bar 12 and the top rail 11 and extends around the box to a position back of the shelf 13,'as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. A short guard bar 15 forms, in eect, a.k continuation of the guide bar 9 of 'the gully and extends aV short distance along the back of the box toward the left` end thereof.

When the ball rolls fromV the gully into the gully box it will travel on the side track bar 14 and against the elevated end of the bottom track bar 12 until its direction of movement is changed at right angles in the gully box, whereupon the ball will travel on track bar 12 and against side trackbar 14 until it passes off track bar 12 to discharge position supported by shelf 13 and side track bar 14. It is to effect this change `of direction of `movement of the ballcas it Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

enters the gully box to avoid any danger of the ball going in a wrong direction that T elevate the entrance end of the bottom track bar 12, which thus forms a guide, not' only 'directing the ball 1n its proper direc-A tion but preventing 1t from moving 1n anyV 'end of the track bar 12, whereupon its direction of movement is changed ata right angle and the ball travels on track bar 12 and '14 and against the track bar 12 until its Vdirection of movement is changed and then lit travels on the track bar 12and against the side track bar 14, and the guard bar 15 is provided toprevent any tendency of the ball to jump out of the box after it makes this turn. The box is suspended from the frame of thetable 16 by any suitable means, such as hangers 17, and the tracks and top lrail are made substantially like the corresponding parts of the gully described in my application aforesaid. The track bars are fluted or corrugated longitudinally to provide a curved side directed within the box and faced with rubber 18, or other suitablev material, to be engaged by the balls.

The gully is preferably made in sections in or about the manner disclosed in my companion application hereinbefore mentioned, the sections being fastened together by chan- -nel bands 20 which are provided with lugs 19 to engage the. bars (Fig. 6) and with loops 19 to engage the top rail. l also preferably provide connectors 21 (Fig. 2) arranged within the adjacent ends of the top rail where the sections abut at the channel bands.` Any other suitable construction of track kbars and rail may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope 0f the invention.

The 'shelf 13 is carried on a lever arm 22 which is pivoted at 23 on thetop rail of the box, and this lever is connected by a' link 24: with a bell-crank lever 26 which is pivoted at 27 on a support 28 secured to the frame of the table. Thebellcrankl 26 is connected by links 29 and 30 to one section 31 of a-'push -rod which is located beneath the bed of the table. The other section 32 of this push rod is llocated in a suitable cavity provided for' it inthe end rail 33 ofthe table. The inner end of the section 32 of the push rod is arranged to abut against the 'outer end of the section 31 of the push rod .and a spring 34 acts upon the section 32 toproject its outer end beyond the face of the rail 33, so that it can be readily operated by pressure of the finger. This construction permits the end rail to be detached from the table without disconnecting any of the parts of the gully box discharging mechanism just described, andthis is important because it is usual tol ship pocket billiard `tables knock-down and it is also desirable that the gully box and its discharging mechanism be constructed so that they can be applied to the various parts of the table at the factory and require no special attention or adjustment when the table is being assembled afterv shipment.

lt will readily be seen that the end rail of the table canfbe removed at any time and replaced without requiring any attention to the discharge mechanism of the gully box.

The distance between the outer corner of the shelf 13 and the opposite portion of the side track bar 14 is sufficiently less than the diameter of the ball to prevent the ball from dropping out of the gully box and the construction is such that a very slight movement of the shelf is necessary tov discharge the ball from the box. This is indicated in Fig. 5 wherein it will be noted that as the shelf moves downward it also moves rearward, thereby rapidly enlarging the distance between the corner of the shelf and the track bar 14 to permit the discharge of the ball. This operation of the shelf is accomplished by pushing the push yrod 32 and one or more of the balls may be discharged from the box as desired.

My improved gully box is of strong and substantial construction and its skeleton form is especially advantageous because it prevents the accumulation of dirt and other foreign matter in the box and at the saine time permits the removal of dust by brushing or wiping with a cloth. The box is neat and attractive in appearance and can be conveniently arranged at the end of the rtable out of the Way of the player. Its openvvork construction and the rubber or other suitable covering on the bars prevent noise when the balls roll into the box and the discharging apparatus may be easily operated to release the balls from the box by the simple operation of a push rod conveniently located on the end rail of the table for operation by the player.

1 am aware that changes in the form and construction of the various parts of my invention may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages thereof and I therefore reserve the right to make all such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the invention.

:bar extending from. said entrance tdand extending from said entrance in a direction substantially parallel with the bottom track bar and to said discharge opening.

2. A pocket billiard table gully box of skeleton form having a ball entrance disposed at the rear and between its ends and a discharge opening at one end, a side track bar, a movable shelf at the discharge opening normally sustained in elevated position to support a ball between itself and the side track bar, and means for operating said shelf to discharge the ball.

3. A pocket billiard table gully box of skeleton formvhaving a ball entrance at the rear ofthe box and a discharge opening at one end of the box, and a pair of track bars spaced apart on which the ball travels from the entrance to the discharge.

4l. A pocket billiard table gully box of skeleton form having a ball entrance at'the rear of the box and a discharge at one end thereof, and a pair of spaced apart track bars extending from the ball entrance to said discharge, said track bars curving from a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the box to a direction parallel with the longitudinal axis of the box and extending at the rear of the box to and around one end thereof and entirely along the front of the box to the discharge at the other end thereof.

5. A pocket billiard table gully box of skeleton form having a ball entrance at the rear and a discharge opening at one end thereof, and a pair of spaced apart track bars on which the ball travels from said entranceto said discharge, one of said track bars having a decline adjacent said entrance.

6. A pocket billiard table gully box of skeleton form having a ball entrance atthe rear and a discharge opening at one end thereof, and a pair of spaced apart track bars on which the ball travels from said entrance to said discharge, one of said track Copies of this patent may be obtained for bars having an incline adjacent saidV entrance. n

7. A pocket billiard table gully box of skeleton form having a ball entrance at the rear and a discharge opening at one end thereof, and a pair of spaced apart track bars on which the ball travels from said en trance to said discharge,'oneof'said track bars having va declinerand the other of said track bars having anV incline adjacent said entrance.

8. A pocket billiard table gully box ofv Vskeleton form having a ball entrance at the rear and a discharge opening at Vone endA thereof, and a pair of spaced apart track bars on which'the ball travels from said entrance to Vsaid discharge, one of said track bars being located above the other track bar vat theball entrance end thereof and below said other track bar for the remainder of its length.

9. A pocket billiard table gully box having a movable shelf and a bar to retain the ball in the box at the discharge end thereof, and means for moving said shelf to release the ball.

l0. A pocket billiard table gully box havy ing a movable shelf and a bar to retain the ball in the box at the discharge end thereof, and means for moving said shelf to Vrelease the ball comprising a lever Ysupporting said shelf, a push rodon the table, and connections intermediate said push rod and lever.

' 11. A pocket billiard table gully box having a movable shelf and a bar to retain the ball in the box at the discharge end thereof, a lever pivoted on the box andsupporting said shelf, a spring-pressed push rod on the rail of the table, and connections intermediate of said push rod and said lever for moving the shelf to release the ball.

FRANK C. 'HOBBS Witness z M. A. KIDDIE. 

